Public Health Epidemiologist

CDC Foundation•North Carolina, NC

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

This position serves as an HAI epidemiologist for the SHARPPS Program. The position requires considerable knowledge of the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) and proficiency in statistical analysis software. The position coordinates with all NC hospitals to assure the best information is entered into NHSN and that the healthcare associated infection reports produced by the Communicable Disease Branch have been reviewed by those facilities. The position reconciles each hospital’s report monthly and produces quarterly and annual public reports of healthcare associated infection (HAI) rates. It is vital to CDB’s relationship with hospital infection prevention programs and with the public seeking information on HAIs in hospitals where they might be admitted as patients. HAI surveillance through NHSN is a critical grant activity of the ELC cooperative agreement that funds the entire SHARPPS Program. Additionally, this position produces routine and ad hoc reports from multidrug resistant organism surveillance and other healthcare related data sources.

Requirements

Master's degree in Epidemiology or closely related health field from an appropriately accredited institution and two years of related experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Considerable knowledge of surveillance methods for healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.
Working knowledge of epidemiologic principles, investigations, surveillance, study design, descriptive statistics, statistical analysis and interpretation of statistical data and scientific literature.
Considerable knowledge of biostatistics including the use of statistical software and statistical programming languages.
Considerable knowledge of computers, database design, data management and data manipulation.
Ability to communicate effectively orally and in writing.

Responsibilities

Collect and analyze surveillance data for healthcare associated and antimicrobial-resistant pathogens reported via the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) and North Carolina Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NCEDSS).
Conduct routine remote and on-site data quality evaluations with surveillance sites.
Design data analyses based on scientific questions and existing data.
Generate routine data reports for internal and external partners.
Improve workflows and processes for data requests and routine analyses.
Collaborate with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal, state, and local partners.
Participate in public health responses to emerging infections, such as COVID-19.
Interpret surveillance data and disseminate data on healthcare-associated infections to stakeholders to include producing quarterly and annual NC HAI Report.
Participate in the multi-disciplinary statewide Surveillance for Healthcare-Associated and Resistant Pathogens Patient Safety (SHARPPS) Advisory Group.
Provide input into the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) cooperative agreement from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as it relates to SHARPPS proposed activities, strategies, and metrics.